Jim Six Column: A 'menu' of clothing

As many of you know, I have lost a lot of weight. Something like 65 pounds.

This weight loss has had many results.

I no longer snore like a buzz saw. I can sleep on my back again. I can walk reasonable distances without gasping for breath.

I can bend over. This, in itself, is a major achievement.

My fingers are thinner, meaning I can wear a ring I used to wear. My wedding ring no longer threatens to cut off the circulation of my finger.

As a result of the weight loss, I have once again taken to wearing cowboy boots. Back in the day, I wore only cowboy boots for more than 12 years. Didn’t even own a regular pair of shoes.

Now, once again, I own several pairs of boots.

I believe my head has shrunk. Several of my Stetsons seem to be too big. Maybe it’s just my imagination, I don’t know.

One of the biggest aspects of the weight loss is that I have had to buy new clothes. As I grew bigger and bigger, my stupid self reasoned, “Ach! I’ll never be that small again,” and threw out tons of smaller clothing.

So I had to go get new jeans.

As it turns out, I don’t have a wardrobe now as much as I have a clothing menu. I bought smaller trousers, then another size smaller, then another size smaller. My waist is now 10 inches smaller than when I started. What’s that? Five sizes? So I have a menu of jeans in five different sizes.

I’ve gone from wearing 4XL shirts to 2 XL or even just XL, depending on the shirt. I’ve gone from wearing 3XL sweats to good ol’ XL.

Luckily, my Closest Companion had the wisdom to NOT toss my vast collection of Hawaiian shirts. We went through several bins of shirts and there are at least 20 shirts that I can wear this season. (There’s another bin marked “Next Time” with shirts that were just a tad too small for me now. And a bin marked “Next Next Time,” with shirts a little smaller, still.)

I have a menu of belts and denim shirts, as well.

I really am enjoying being thinner. I can breathe better. I feel terrific. In fact, I’ve noticed that, instead of waddling as I used to do, I have a bit of a swagger in my step these days.